Charges: Man Stole MnDOT Truck, Led Police On Chase
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 33-year-old Inver Grove Heights man is accused of stealing a state construction truck, leading authorities on a chase and damaging a squad car in a crash, according to charges filed Tuesday in Dakota County Court.
Gregory Henry Wiley Jr. is charged with theft of a motor vehicle in connection with the incident, which happened Aug. 3 in Hastings.
According to a criminal complaint, the Hastings Police Department was called at about 7:24 a.m. to a construction site near Highway 55 and Vermillion. A Minnesota Department of Transportation worker was at the site, stopped his truck along the roadway to take measurements and left the truck running. A short time later, the worker spotted a black man driving the truck past him on eastbound Highway 55.
The worker called police to report the truck stolen.
The complaint states the truck was soon spotted near the area of Highway 61 and 80th Street in Cottage Grove. When officers attempted to stop the vehicle, a pursuit ensued. Authorities executed a PIT maneuver to stop the truck.
According to the complaint, the MnDOT vehicle was damaged during the PIT maneuver, and officers had to break windows on the truck that Wiley had locked to take him into custody. Wiley was also uncooperative with law enforcement and damaged a squad car. When he was transported to jail, he was so combative with officers and they had to use a Taser.
The truck Wiley allegedly stole is valued at $22,300. If convicted, he faces up to five years in jail and a $10,000 fine.
